Ireland and the new world order

Ireland is a winner when it comes to globalisation. But things are changing. The lesson of history is that ideas matter; that institutions matter. We are not spending nearly enough time discussing either

Since the 1950s, Ireland has prospered based on extracting the maximum societal return from one really big idea: openness. Openness to trade, to new partnerships, to inward migration and, most importantly, to foreign capital. Using this one big idea, Ireland could use its geography, common language and shared economic model with the US, Britain and much of Europe to enrich its citizens. It did. The average Irish person enjoys a vastly higher standard of living than their grandparents. Trade in all things has made us wealthy, if not yet wise. Openness worked.